Solitude is fine, but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine…

THE INNOCENTS

I watched this French movie (based on real events) on Netflix last night… In every time and place of war, there are two guarantees: DEATH and RAPE!!

Set in a Polish convent near the end of WWII, a young French Red Cross medical student, Mathilde Beaulieu (the impeccable Lou de Laâge), is approached by a nun that pleads her to come with her. Uncomprehending, Mathilde advises her to go the Polish Red Cross for assistance but in the end accepts to help her… What Mathilde found was holy sister about to give birth and several more in advanced stages of pregnancy… The horrific reality of a convent of sexually abused nuns by Soviet soldiers.

A non-believer, Mathilde enters the sisters’ fiercely private world, dictated by the rituals of their order and the strict Rev. Mother (Agata Kulesza). Fearing the shame of exposure, the hostility of the new anti-Catholic Communist government, and facing an unprecedented crisis of faith, the nuns increasingly turn to Mathilde as their belief and traditions clash with harsh realities.

More than a drama, this movie feel like a thriller.

Every second of the movie keeps you wanting to see more, there is no melodrama here, simply women of faith living day to day.

Needless to say, this is not an enjoyable film to watch but it is worth the time. It shows how religion justifies moral corruption if interpreted in the wrong way.